Brazil’s 2015 airport concessions are due to be confirmed in June, after recent iterations

As reported in CAPA's Airport Privatisation Review in Jan-2015, privatisation of some of the remaining primary airports by concession in Brazil is ready to commence now that a restructuring of state operator Infraero is under way. At that time the government was preparing concessions for another three airports, in Manaus, Porto Alegre and Salvador. Vague announcements from the government also indicated there might be more to come as well, but not in 2015. Then Manaus was declared ineligible for privatisation along with Sao Paulo Congonhas and Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont airports so they can continue to provide some backbone for Infraero.

The general air of confusion has continued. The government may be clear about its objectives but public pronouncements lack clarity. A formal announcement was to have been made on 14-May-2015 but has been postponed until early Jun-2015 because the government needs more time to deliver the next concession packages. It appears the originally identified three airports have lost one but have also been extended to a possible four with the addition of Florianopolis and Fortaleza. There has also been a hint of a couple of surprises concerning Infraero's future contribution and about Fraport's potential role in it.